Harry's Aftermath of the Summer Holidays
by Healer Pomfrey
Summary: Harry suffers from health problems at the beginning of his 3rd year but nobody seems to notice anything but one person. Completely AU, partly OOC, Abuse!Dursleys indirectly , sick!Harry


**Harry's Aftermath of the Summer Holidays**

"Harry, Harry, you have to get up. Classes are going to start in fifteen minutes," Ron shouted, while Hermione proceeded to shake their best friend's shoulder.

"Harry, come on, you've already missed breakfast," Hermione told the boy sternly.

Harry lazily opened his eyes. It was the second week of his third year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, and he knew that he had to hurry, but since he had woken up more than an hour ago he had been feeling absolutely awful. His chest and stomach had already been sore since he had left the Dursleys two weeks ago, but this morning he had difficulties to breathe and he felt somehow unwell. '_Anyway, I have to get up_,' Harry mused. '_There's no way that I'm going to the hospital wing right now. I can imagine how Malfoy would laugh if I was sick in the second week_.'

"Harry, are you coming?" Ron urged, and Harry scrambled out of his bed as fast as he could move his sore body.

Ten minutes later, the three Gryffindors were sitting in the Transfiguration classroom. Ron and Hermione were sitting at both sides of Harry and were watching him in concern, while Harry tried to recall what they had been doing in the last lesson. '_Thank God it's Friday_,' he mused, observing Professor McGonagall enter the room. The teacher asked Neville to hand everyone a wooden cat, which they had to transform into a plush cat and make it do meowing sounds. Harry tried again and again, but his plush cat didn't make sounds like a cat but roared like a lion. '_Oh, that's too difficult_,' Harry groaned inwardly. '_If only my head didn't hurt so much_.'

When the three Gryffindors left the Transfiguration classroom, Harry noticed how cold it was in the halls and motioned his friends to go ahead to the Potions classroom. "I'm just going to get a sweater from the dormitory," he told them. "Go ahead; I'll catch up with you on the way."

"No mate, we're going to wait for you," Ron replied, and Hermione nodded her agreement.

"It's not cold at all; I'm afraid Harry's going to be sick; he doesn't look well," Hermione worriedly voiced her concern about their friend, while they were waiting in front of the Fat Lady.

"Thank God it's Friday," Ron countered, muttering something to himself.

Finally, Harry arrived, and the three friends trailed down to the dungeons as fast as Harry's sore ribs allowed him to walk. "You're late! Five points each from Gryffindor," the professor bellowed as soon as they entered the Potions classroom.

"I'm sorry, sir; it's my fault," Harry told the teacher quietly, while they took the only empty seats, unfortunately in the first row.

"Harry, stay here; I will bring your ingredients," Hermione whispered to Harry and motioned Ron to come on quickly.

"Thank you, Hermione," Harry whispered back gratefully, while he concentrated on finding the correct page in the Potions book.

Severus stood in front of the class, watching the children getting and preparing their ingredients. Suddenly, his eyes reached Harry. '_The boy definitely looks ill today_,' he thought, taking in that the child's breathing was shallow and irregular and his cheeks looked feverishly flushed. In fact, he had been watching the boy closely from the beginning of the school year, getting worried after witnessing painful expressions on the child's face several times. So far, he hadn't seen fit to do anything to help the boy, since their relationship was very difficult. On one hand, he hated the boy for looking like the spitting image of Severus' arch enemy, James Potter. On the other hand, however, he had vowed to Lily to keep her child safe, and he felt somehow responsible for the boy's well-being.

From the edge of his eye, Severus watched Hermione handing Harry the correct ingredients and whispering instructions to him from time to time. In the end, the boy had managed to brew a flawless potion. "Detention, Mr. Potter, with me straight after dinner tonight! How stupid do you think I am? Did you believe I wouldn't notice that Ms. Granger guided you through the whole brewing process? You will brew the potion again tonight. Don't be late!"

Harry rubbed his aching forehead before he looked up to the teacher, who had just made his potion vanish and mumbled something about 'zero'. "I brewed that potion all on my own, and I won't do detention for only doing my work," he told the teacher in a determined voice.

"Five points from Gryffindor for your cheek," Mr. Potter," Severus sneered. "And let me tell you, Potter, if you don't show up for your detention, you will serve a month of detentions with me," he threatened, watching in concern as the child slowly stood up from his seat, his forehead scrunched painfully.

"Fine. I won't be there then either," Harry gave back and slowly left the room, feverishly trying to get his shallow breathing under control. '_I shouldn't have been so rude to Snape. Who knows what he's going to do to me tonight_,' he thought wearily.

"You should go and see Madam Pomfrey, Harry," Ron suddenly interrupted his thoughts, while Hermione extended a hand to his forehead that Harry slapped down immediately.

"Just leave me in peace; I'm fine, Hermione," Harry hissed, unnerved by his friends' fussing. "I'm sorry," he apologized a minute and one staircase later. "I don't feel so well today, but I'll be fine. I'm going to take a nap through lunch; can you please wake me up in time for Herbology please?"

"Herbology?" Hermione shrieked. "Harry, we have Care of Magical Creatures and History of Magic first."

"Yes, I know, but Professor Binns probably won't notice my absence anyway, and I don't think I'll be able to walk down to Hagrid's today. I will apologize to him when I see him at dinner."

Ron and Hermione shot Harry worried looks but agreed and promised to come and wake him up in time. Harry slowly walked up to his dormitory and crawled into bed. '_What's wrong with me?_' he thought, trying to recall what he had been doing the day before that could have aggravated his condition so much. However, he couldn't remember doing anything apart from attending classes and doing homework and finally drifted off to sleep. When his friends came and told him to get up, Harry felt worse than before but complied and slowly trailed behind his friends to the green houses.

HP HEALER POMFREY HP

At dinner, Harry was much too preoccupied trying to keep his emotions at bay in order not to shout at his friends that he didn't want to eat more than two bites, he was fine, and, yes, he would attend his detention, to notice that several pairs of eyes were watching him from the head table in concern.

Hagrid arrived a few minutes late and took the empty seat between Minerva and Severus. "Minerva, what's wrong with Harry? He missed my class, and his friends told me that he was sick."

"Harry?" Minerva replied astonished. "I don't have a clue; he was in my class in the morning and seemed to be fine."

Severus let out a snort. "Seemed to be fine," he sneered. "Minerva, don't you have eyes in your head? Look at him." He gave her a small nod in the direction of the Gryffindor table, where Harry sat between his friends before he continued his rant. "His cheeks are flushed, and when you look closer you can see that his forehead is sweaty and his eyes are glassy. He has obviously been in pain since he came back from the holidays, and today he even seems to be running a temperature. Moreover, his breathing is shallow and irregular."

"If you noticed all this, why didn't you send him to the hospital wing?" Minerva huffed, getting very upset, mostly about the fact that she wasn't as observant as her young colleague.

"If he was a Slytherin, I'd have sent him to Poppy right away," Severus replied. "However, I thought that you were more than competent enough to look after your little Gryffindors. Since he has obviously no intention to please Poppy with his presence, I have assigned him a detention tonight."

"Detention?" Albus jumped into the conversation. "I know that you're not fond of the child, Severus, but please don't forget that he is Lily's boy as well…"

"I know that, Albus," Severus calmly interrupted the Headmaster. "Why do you believe I gave him detention? If he doesn't seek help on his own, someone has to help him, don't you think so?"

"Very well, Severus. Thank you for trying to help the child; I believe that he is in dire need of aid and comfort. Please be so kind and inform Minerva and me about his condition as soon as you can," Albus replied.

Severus returned a curt nod and stood up from his seat. His robes dramatically billowed behind him when he walked over to the Gryffindor table. "Mr. Potter, please accompany me," he spoke into the tense silence that had spread over the Gryffindor table as soon as the students had spotted him approach their table.

Harry let out a small groan and slowly followed the professor out of the Great Hall, unable to keep up with the teacher's fast pace. When he arrived in the dungeons, Severus was waiting for him. Harry frantically tried not to let any sign of pain show in his face but failed miserably. "Tired?" the professor sneered, raising an eyebrow at the child.

"No, but I was told 'after dinner', and since I didn't even have the chance to properly finish my dinner…" Harry slowly trailed off.

"Ah, you were honestly considering taking a third bite from your dinner?" Severus asked, giving the child a sharp look."

"Oh, just let me start with my potion, and then we don't have to endure each other's company longer than necessary," Harry gave back, completely annoyed.

"No, you will accompany me into my office first," Severus contradicted, motioning Harry to follow him. "Sit down here," he told the boy in a slightly friendlier voice and pointed to a chair in front of his desk.

Harry groaned, annoyed, but couldn't help letting out a relieved sigh when he sank into the chair, which of course didn't go unnoticed by Severus. He took his normal chair behind his desk and gave the child a thoughtful look. "Now, Mr. Potter, please tell me what is ailing you."

"Ailing me? Sorry, I… I don't understand," Harry replied confused.

"You understand me quite well, Mr. Potter. Since the beginning of the school year you've been in pain constantly…"

"I'm fine!" Harry interrupted the teacher, getting very upset. '_Why does everyone have to fuss over me, even Snape? He hates me anyway, doesn't he?_'

"I do not hate you, Mr. Potter, and I'm very concerned about you, seeing that you have obviously problems breathing and even seem to have a fever today," Severus spoke up as if he had been able to read his thoughts.

"I don't have a fever," Harry hissed angrily. Unfortunately, his words ended up in a coughing fit.

"Then it shouldn't be a problem if we took your temperature to check that," Severus returned coolly and opened his drawer to pull out a thermometer, ignoring the horrified look Harry gave him. "Open up, Mr. Potter," he said in a relatively gentle voice.

"No!" Harry hissed, pressing his lips close together.

"Open up, Mr. Potter, or do you want me to put you under the Imperius Charm?" Severus sneered.

"That would take you to Azkaban," Harry returned. "I'm fine sir. Please let me start with my potion, so that I can return to my dormitory," he pleaded, giving the teacher a weary look.

"No, Mr. Potter. I will not let you go until you comply. Now open your mouth or I will call Madam Pomfrey and ask her to check on you."

'_Oh no_!' Harry mused, horrified by the thought to end up in the hospital wing, and grudgingly opened his mouth, nearly gagging when the professor stuck the thermometer under his tongue. Not able to fight the teacher anymore, Harry let himself sink back into the chair, leaning his achy head against the near-by book shelf. He suddenly felt very drained and ill.

Severus watched the child in concern, pondering how to proceed next, glad when the thermometer beeped after an infinite amount of time. He quickly snatched it out of the child's mouth and looked at the reading, terrified. "Mr. Potter, you have a fever of forty (one hundred and four) degrees and are still feel well enough to pretend you're fine? That's unbelievable," he told the child and motioned him to follow him. He led the boy through the connecting door into his private chambers and helped him to lie down on the sofa.

Harry was feeling too unwell to care what was happening anymore and willingly followed the teacher. He lay back and closed his eyes in relief before he opened them again when he heard the teacher's voice, "No, Mr. Potter, you mustn't sleep right now. You have to tell me what's wrong first, so that I can try to help you. I have a bit of healing experience, and maybe I can help you. Otherwise, we still have to call Madam Pomfrey."

"Oh no, please don't call her," Harry asked, giving the teacher a pleading look from his dull, green eyes, before he explained, "My ribs have been hurting since I left my relatives two weeks ago, and so far it was all right except for the fact that it hurts with every movement. However, since this morning, I have problems breathing, and my head and throat are sore."

Severus gave him a concerned look and placed a cold cloth on the child's burning forehead. "Try to relax for a moment, Mr. Potter. I will try to check what's wrong." When Harry gave him a short nod, Severus waved his wand at him several times before he let out a deep sigh. With a flick of his wand, he transformed the sofa Harry was lying on into a comfortable bed. Harry gave him a questioning look, and Severus explained, "You have three broken ribs, and one of them is puncturing your lung. Unfortunately, it has been puncturing your lung for such a long time that it caused your lung to become infected. I will try to mend your ribs. Please try to lie still and don't move."

Severus waved his wand three more times, before he slightly relaxed. Then he pointed his wand at the child once more and sighed in relief seeing that the ribs were on the mend. "All right, Mr. Potter. Your ribs are healed; however, I have to ask you not to move for at least ten hours. Unfortunately, we won't be able to heal your lung infection as quickly." He handed Harry a phial. "Please drink, it's a fever reducer. I have to brew a potion for your lung infection; however, it will take three hours to brew. Therefore, I want you to sleep in the meantime. I will inform Professor McGonagall that I'm going to keep you here overnight. If you feel worse or need anything, just call out. I will be in my personal lab…" He pointed to a near-by door, "… and will leave the door open."

"Thank you, Professor," Harry mumbled hoarsely and obediently gulped down the potion, noticing that he felt a bit warmer instantly. '_Why is he so nice to me?_' he wondered while he was drifting off to sleep, unaware of the Floo conversation between the professor and his Head of House that took place right next to him.

Three hours later, Severus returned with the freshly brewed potion, worriedly taking in the sweat that was dripping from the child's temples and his feverishly red face. He quickly roused the child. "Potter, wake up; your potion is ready," he said gently, placing a slender hand on the child's forehead that made Harry open his eyes startled.

"Pfessor," Harry mumbled sleepily, letting out a few harsh coughs. "I don't feel good," he mumbled in a hardly understandable voice.

"Yes, I know, Mr. Potter. You are very ill," Severus said soothingly and spelled the potions straight into the child's system. Severus waited a minute, watching the boy's shallow breathing, before he asked, "Do you feel any better, Mr. Potter?"

"Yes sir, thank you," Harry replied hoarsely. "I can breathe a bit better." He nearly chocked as Severus had chosen that moment to stick the thermometer into his open mouth. He sighed and rubbed his forehead in an effortless try to get rid of his headache.

"Forty point five," Severus sighed, taking the thermometer back. "Go to sleep, Mr. Potter. I will check on you again in three hours."

Harry lay back, mumbling something incoherent about a lion, before he fell into a fevered dream about a lion chasing him around the Quidditch pitch. Harry mounted his broom, glad that he had brought it with him; however, the lion had wings and could fly, so that it could even reach him in the air, and unfortunately the broom was Charmed to only fly at a certain speed.

During the next thirty hours, Harry drifted in and out his feverish nightmares. His breathing remained laboured and his fever reached dangerous heights. During the whole time, Severus busied himself trying to cool down the child's hot body. On Sunday morning, Harry finally woke up coherent enough to take in his surroundings. '_Where am I?_' he mused in confusion, when he suddenly remembered being in his Potions professor's living room.

"Welcome back to the living, Mr. Potter," Severus greeted him in a gentle voice, seeing relieved that Harry's ashen grey face had turned back to the white colour it had been the day before yesterday. His cheeks were still flushed and sweaty, and the child's eyes were still dull and glassy, but he obviously seemed to get better. He quickly pried the thermometer into the child's mouth and carefully wiped the sweat away from his forehead, while they were waiting.

"Wha ad I id…" Harry started to voice a question around the thermometer, but Severus told him to wait and extended a hand to make sure the annoying, cold thing was still in the correct position. "It too cold," Harry mumbled again, shivering at the coldness in his hot mouth. '_Why is Snape so friendly, and why is he taking care of me?_' Harry mused, unable to answer these questions by himself.

"Thirty-nine point eight; thank God, your fever broke," Severus informed him. "You had a dangerously high fever during the last thirty hours."

"Thirty hours?" Harry gasped hoarsely. "How long…"

"It's Sunday morning," Severus told him gently. "You're suffering from lung infection, but it finally seems to get better. You should try to eat something, Mr. Potter, before you go back to sleep."

"No thank you," Harry declined, still feeling too bad to even think about eating something. "Why… um... I mean… Why are you doing this for me, sir? I mean… Why do you care for me instead of just taking me to the hospital wing?" Harry asked in a small voice.

Severus sighed and pointed his wand at a nutrient potion on the table, spelling it directly into the boy's stomach. "There are many reasons," he began to explain pensively. "You were very ill and didn't want to go to the hospital wing, stubborn as you are. I spoke with Professors McGonagall and Dumbledore as well as with Madam Pomfrey, and we all agreed that it would be better for you if someone looked solely after you. In the hospital wing are many students that all need Madam Pomfrey, but here I could give you my undivided attention, which you obviously needed during the last day. Nevertheless, Madam Pomfrey has come by to look after you several times. We have agreed that you are going to stay here in my quarters for at least a week, since you showed us that you're unable to look after yourself. Only when you're back to full health you may return to Gryffindor tower."

"But Professor, why you?" Harry wondered aloud. "I mean… you hate me. Why didn't I end up with one of the other teachers?"

"Because none of them noticed that you were ill. I was the one that observed you and knew you needed help. Moreover, I'm the only one of the colleagues, who has at least a little healing experience, which was obviously needed in your case."

He refreshed the cloth on Harry's forehead, before he continued, "There is one more point, Mr. Potter. You won't know that, but your mother was my best friend in school and even before Hogwarts. We more or less grew up together. Anyway, I promised her to look after you if you needed someone, and she appointed me your unofficial godfather. She couldn't make me your godfather officially, because your father wouldn't have allowed that, but unofficially it's my job to look after you." Severus gave the child an anxious glance, seeing that he just fallen asleep with a smile playing on his lips.

Harry drifted off to sleep, thinking, '_Is that all true? It would be nice to have a godfather, to have someone, who cared about me or to nurse me back to health like Snape is doing at the moment_.' When Severus woke him up three hours later, Harry found himself in a very comfortable bed in a small room. "Where am I?" he croaked confused.

"You're in the guest room of my quarters," Severus replied, shoving the thermometer into Harry's mouth. "From now on, this is your room, in which you are free to stay anytime. Fortunately, Professor McGonagall also knew about Lily's will to make me your godfather, and together we have been able to convince Professor Dumbledore to make me your guardian since you apparently need someone to keep an eye on you."

"Does that mean that I don't have to go back to the Dursleys?" Harry blurted out, taking the thermometer out as soon as it started to beep.

"Yes, it means that you may spend the holidays here in my quarters," the professor replied and took the thermometer from the child, nodding contentedly.

HP HEALER POMFREY HP

A week later, Harry was finally allowed to return to Gryffindor. At first, it felt strange to be back in the dormitory. '_It was really nice to have my own room and have someone, who really seemed to care about me_,' Harry thought, feeling very happy at the thought of having a godfather.

During the next weeks, Harry went to the dungeons to talk with the professor once a week, noticing that he could speak to his godfather about everything he wanted. The man always listened patiently. Harry even sought him out once when he was feeling unwell and couldn't keep anything down of the little food he had eaten. The professor put him to bed and stayed with him until he felt better.

HP HEALER POMFREY HP

A week before Christmas, Severus dismissed his students after the lesson and called out, "Mr. Potter, stay back for a moment."

"It's all right; you can go ahead," Harry told his friends and walked up to the front of the classroom. "Yes sir?" he asked politely.

Severus looked around, seeing that all students had left the room. With a flick of his wand, the classroom door closed and locked itself. "Mr. Potter, I just wanted to ask you how you intend to spend the winter holidays."

Harry's face darkened immediately. "My friends are all going home, but the Headmaster didn't allow me to accompany any of them. So I'm going to stay at Hogwarts."

"You don't have to give me an answer right now, but I'd like you to know that you're always welcome to spend your holidays in my quarters. You know that you can always stay in your own room there, not only if you're sick, don't you?"

"Yes sir, thank you, sir," Harry replied hesitantly. "But I don't want to be a burden, and I'll be fine in Gryffindor."

"You aren't a burden, not to me, and not to anyone else," the teacher told him sternly. "I would appreciate having you stay with me, Harry."

Harry's green eyes looked up into his guardian's onyx eyes, shining with joy. "Thank you, Professor, I'd like to stay with you, and I'm looking forward to the holidays."

**The End**

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I'm not a native speaker of English. Please excuse my mistakes or help me to correct them._

_All recognizable characters belong to J., and I am not earning anything by writing this story._


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